The Sedona City Council approved fiscal year 2024-25 funding for 30 local nonprofit organizations through the Small Grants Program on Aug. 13 in the amount of $350,000. Thirty-two organizations had requested funding in the amount of $541,682.

During council’s consideration of the proposed funding, Mayor Scott Jablow and Small Grants Committee Chairwoman Stephanie Giesbrecht drew attention to the city’s new policy of requiring contracts between the city and recipients of grant funding to set conditions for nonprofits in exchange for receiving funding.

“This year, in particular, I’m very pleased that you’ve thought to create a contract between the organizations and the city for the use of the money,” Giesbrecht said. “Because of that contract, we have the ability to stipulate contingencies that must be met in order for the organization to, A, keep the money, and/or apply for future requests … You can put contingencies on if you wanted to see something from the organization.”

“Aren’t metrics required in the new contracts?” Jablow later asked.

“Per [City Attorney] Kurt Christianson, the process hasn’t changed,” Sedona Communications Director Lauren Browne said Aug. 27. “They are still given a grant to perform their services or missions; the only difference is we just require a contract to ensure the small grant money is spent as they claim and to protect the public funds from being misspent.”

In December, Councilwoman Melissa Dunn had proposed that the city use conditions attached to grant funding to direct the policies and activities of nonprofit organizations.

The general provisions of the city’s new contract require that each organization complete the programs outlined in its application, according to a predetermined schedule if a schedule was proposed; complete a full financial audit at its own expense during the year; report to the city annually on completion of its programming; and return any unspent grant funds to the city by April 30.

Additional requirements have been imposed on several organizations:

• 1501 Foundation: Keeping the city informed about possible benefits of yoga and “mindfulness” to the health of first-responders.
• The Carpetbag Brigade: Collecting demographic data from event attendees “to include but not limited to general age category and place of residency.”
• The Sedona Bridge Club: Conducting “focused outreach to a broader demographic of players, specifically through Sedona Community Center and the public library. It is also strongly suggested efforts are made to engage high school-age participants.” “There’s a former principal here and she said it would be great if they would reach out to the high school students,” Giesbrecht said.
• Steps to Recovery Homes: Providing case studies on client outcomes.
• Verde Valley School: Providing data on the number of Sedona residents participating in VVS programs

Keep Sedona Beautiful was also requested but not required to provide better data collection.

Arts and Culture

Following discussion during the council’s December policy retreat, council decided to allocate minimums of 40% of grant funding to arts programs and 40% to social service programs, with the remainder to be allocated by the committee.

Arts and culture organizations in Sedona received a total of $192,500 in grant funding during the FY25 cycle, or 55% of the available pool, up from $99,000 the previous year, or 50% of available funds at that time.

The arts organizations being funded this year are:

• Arts Academy of Sedona: Requested $15,000; awarded $12,000
• The Carpetbag Brigade: Requested $11,435; awarded $10,000
• Chamber Music Sedona: Requested $20,000; awarded $18,000
• Emerson Theater Collaborative: Requested $15,000; awarded $12,000
• Parangello Players: Requested $15,000; awarded $12,000
• Piano on the Rocks: Requested $13,500; awarded $11,000
• Red Rocks Music Festival: Requested $8,500; awarded $7,000
• Sedona Arts Center: Requested $75,000; awarded $40,000
• Sedona Arts Festival: Requested $15,000; awarded $12,500
• Sedona International Film Festival: Requested $55,000; awarded $40,000
• Sedona Symphony: Requested $20,000; awarded $18,000

Social Services

Organizations classified by the city as providing social services received a total of $157,500 in grant funding during the FY25 cycle, up from $101,000 last year.

The social service organizations being funded this year are:

• 1501 Foundation: Requested $19,324; awarded $15,000
• Cancer Support Community of Arizona: Requested $10,000; awarded $5,000
• Gardens for Humanity: Requested $4,500; awarded $4,500
• The Hummingbird Society: Requested $8,000; awarded $5,000
• Keep Sedona Beautiful: Requested $3,400; awarded $1,000
• Low-Income Student Aid: Requested $12,5000; awarded $12,500
• Manzanita Outreach: Requested $33,280; awarded $29,522
• St. Vincent de Paul: Requested $10,000; awarded $7,500
• Sedona Area Veteran and Community Outreach: Requested $3,741; awarded $3,741
• Sedona Bridge Club: Requested $5,021; awarded $2,200
• Sedona Community Food Bank: Requested $12,026; awarded $11,522
• Sedona School Mountain Bike Club: Requested $10,000; awarded $6,500
• Sonoran Reptiles: Requested $6,000; awarded $4,000
• Steps to Recovery Homes: Requested $20,000; received $6,800
• StreeHeat Ministries: Requested $10,740; awarded $8,000
• Verde Valley Cyclists Coalition: Requested $5,000; awarded $2,500
• Verde Valley School: Requested $15,000; awarded $3,000
• Verde Valley Search and Rescue: Requested $19,715; awarded $19,715
• Wheel Fun: Requested $10,000; awarded $10,000

The grants committee recommended refusing funding to two organizations. A group going by the name Wisdom Age Metaverse had requested $35,000 for building a dataset of addiction experiences, which the committee denied as a capital expense of uncertain benefit to the city.

In addition, the Sailfish Sport Project had requested $25,000 for swimming-related youth sports programs. The committee found that the organization’s application and proposals were insufficiently descriptive to warrant funding. The council approved the recommended funding unanimously after 12 minutes of discussion.

“It’s not that I had no issues with some of these, personally, but I trust the committee,” outgoing Councilwoman Jessica Williamson said. “I am perfectly happy with what the committee recommended and I don’t want to be here till 10 [p.m.].”